I let people choose their own usernames, with some small restrictions, such as a minimal length and no spaces. It's easy enough to do a lookup on existing usernames to avoid duplicates and display a message if already in use. Usually, you're doing some other error checking anyway, such as validating the format of email addresses, so the extra check is simple to add. I generally also let people change their username if they have access to update their user profile online. Just don't use the username as a primary or foreign key. Always use the UserID or whatever you use as the table's primary key to identify a user.
Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Dinowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 1:44 PM Subject: [style] usernames > Lets say I have an application where people will sign in to get access to some resources. The signin uses a standard username/password. What do you feel is best for a username? Many sites use the persons email address while others allow them to just write in some text. The only disadvantage of the later method is that you have to make sure two different people do not have the same username. > This is for a community project and I need to know asap. Thanks > > Michael Dinowitz > Publisher: Fusion Authority weekly news alert (www.fusionauthority.com/alert) > Listmaster: CF-Talk, CF-Jobs, Spectra-Talk, Jrun-Talk, etc. (www.houseoffusion.com) ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-talk@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
